Unfortunately that is all too true.
I find the ads to be intellectually insulting at the very least and highly reflective of the mind set of the party who has produced them. If they can not attack the issue, then they are no better than the one who has put their foot in their mouth, in fact they are worse as they have not made an error but a choice.
Bear in mind that the issue would never have existed if the individual never provided the cannon-fodder to begin with.
The 'errors' are not always just simple mistakes either... Trudeau (as the most recent to do so), stated that the problem with gvt is that Harper is to 'Western Canadian' (or words to that effect) and the nation needs Quebec based leaders instead.
Buddy can think that all he likes, but he needs to use his inside-voice when making such comments. The comment may (or may not) be popular in Quebec, but all he accomplished was to lay the ground work for regionalism.
That said, I think that it's important that his words be broadcast for all regions to hear - it provides some kind of insight into the man that said them.
They are merely an appeal to emotion, and look where that has landed us.
The whole elections process is now based on emotions and a culture of fear... Remember the ads that implied that there would be soldiers in the streets and we'd be living in a theocracy?
Gone are the days of voting for the individual/party that will pursue the best long-term interests of the nation... Now it's all about the freebies and pork that will be ladled-out to the areas with the largest population